Reviews

Hitori Bocchi has entered her first year in middle school, and she is on a mission to befriend everyone in her classroom! In actuality, Bocchi is actually an incredibly shy girl who suffers from extreme social anxiety, to the point of vomiting in fear or passing out in excitement. So why is she trying to befriend everyone you ask? Well her only friend before middle school, Yawara Kai, ended up attending a different middle school. Not before telling Bocchi that if she didn't befriend everyone in her class by the end of middle school, that she would stop being her friend. (Sounds extreme, I know.) Bocchi now is giving it her all to become everyone's best friend, so that she may not lose another.

Fun fact: In Japanese, "hitori bocchi" (ひとりぼっち), means "lonely" or "solitary". Now you know why my review title is what it is.

Hitoribocchi no Marumaruseikatsu Seikatsu is one of many anime this 2019 Spring season that gave me a big dumb grin, feeling giddy about each week's fun filled episode. As a cute girls doing cute things slice of life comedy, (god that's a mouthful) it passes with flying colors! All the girls in question are cute and full of charm, Bocchi herself at times can be very predictable and unpredictable. This is put on full display when she is with Nako Sunao, with a straight man like comedic act that is on point, pretty much all the jokes stuck the landing. Which is then contrasted very well when Aru Honshou and Sotca Luckythar take a more supportive role for Bocchi. With Aru doing her best to be a good role model (sometimes failing), while Sotca plays a role in building Bocchi's confidence. There's also a plethora of smaller characters that help Bocchi grow, but for the most part our focus is funneled towards those four. Altogether they make what could have been a throw away cute girls doing cute things anime, into a very sincere and genuinely hilarious comedy. It's a very pleasant anime, one that I can highly recommend to people who want a little more wholesomeness in their comedic slice of life anime.